My Time in Burlington

I don’t want to sound like I am taking a jab at this Burlington, but it has a lot in common with so many other cities. It is a nice town, but not particularly unique. Burlington is considered a fairly progressive city, but that’s difficult to judge as a tourist. There are still homeless people scattered around the city. There is still a big traffic problem. There are tourists everywhere you turn. Downtown is very shopping-centric. These are fairly typical traits for an American city.

I like that Burlington sits on a lake that feels like it could be a cove near the ocean. Lake Champlain is quite an impressive body of water. A beautiful park and multi-use path follow the lakefront for miles. In the summer, the lake attracts tourists and sportsmen/women. Going to the “beach” was always so much fun. I spent a fair amount of time sitting a the bench smoking a cigar staring down at the water.

The architecture doesn’t seem too impressive compared to other cities near by. Montreal, Boston, and even Concord NH in my opinion are more architecturally impressive than Burlington. Those are perhaps the closest large cities. I also found it odd that there isn’t much in the way of public art as I would expect. There is very little wall art (there is plenty of graffiti), I only saw a couple sculptures or statues on public property. Those other cities seem to do a nice job in the way of public art. The open air mall on Church Street is very nice, and a great place to tourist-watch. There are plenty of great restaurants and pubs. There is even a closed air mall on Church Street. This is where you would find the camera shop.

While Burlington is not the capital of Vermont, there are some beautiful state buildings. There is an odd mix of New England style and plain stucco box architecture all over town. The University of Vermont campus is fantastic too. I didn’t spend too much time up there though. Most of the big buildings and hotels in town are very modern looking.

I have huffed around the city several times with my camera, there is plenty of stuff to photograph. I never really got bored with photo-walking, but I also have never been here in the winter. I expect the weather is terrible in the winter, especially this far north and on Lake Champlain. I would not look forward to that commute through this area either.

I imagine people just stay indoors but the snow is always fun to photograph too. My next visit I hope to make in the fall. They say the colors are spectacular. I’ll keep you informed.